The St. Mirren FC 2023/24 thread

[medals]

Nothing like being off and running right from the start, from us.

Need to get right back into it ASAP.

[AW saint]

17 minutes ago, medals said:

Agree but obviously SR doesn't plan keeping Joe and how else does Taylor improve and show us whether he'll be worth keeping?

So far best to move him on. 

[medals]

17 hours ago, AW saint said:

So far best to move him on. 

Yes given away a goal today but these things happen bedding in less experienced players.

What's worse is we had 3 shots on target against the bottom team - and 1 of those was a penalty.

Edited March 19 by medals

[elvis]

And it wasn't even a penalty. 

[Doonhame Buddie]

4 hours ago, medals said:

Agree but obviously SR doesn't plan keeping Joe and how else does Taylor improve and show us whether he'll be worth keeping?

Give him all the games he wants if we get top 6, Shaughnessy should definitely have started today.  

[Munoz]

1 hour ago, elvis said:

And it wasn't even a penalty. 

The ref and VAR thought otherwise, good enough for me.

[houston_bud]

Given our away form and that yesterday we were missing 3, if not 4, starters a point isn't a bad result. Dundee Utd are fighting for their lives so it was never going to be a cake walk.

Looking at the fixtures between now and the split making top 6 looks a big ask. We need to take maximum points from the Livingston and Kilmarnock games. We should've got a point at Tynecastle earlier in the season so I guess it's not out of the question that we could get something there. As much as I'd love it, we won't get anything at Ibrox.

Top 6 or not, we've had a strong season and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep the majority of the squad together, add one or two and pick up a few more wins on the road and we'll get there next season. Easy eh?

[Marko van Haddock]

The run in looks like we will fall short again and to be honest we don’t score enough goals to deserve top 6. Been an enjoyable year though, we look to be keeping the nucleus of the team and if we can just get someone who can bang in a few then next year could be a good one. Maybe Jonah would have been the answer, but sadly depth has let us down. We need to go for it now though, the Livi game a must win and just maybe results could swing in our favour.

[NorthBank]

Home games have been great, Away games mostly awful besides at Hearts and Celtic in the Cup. At Home we are in opposition faces from kickoff. Away we sit back at kickoff and let the opposition dictate the first half, although a half time rocket often improves things. Why do we sit back at kickoff in Away games? SR says that is not the tactic so why do players do it? And we need a goalscorer. 

[capt_oats]

1 hour ago, NorthBank said:

Home games have been great, Away games mostly awful besides at Hearts and Celtic in the Cup. At Home we are in opposition faces from kickoff. Away we sit back at kickoff and let the opposition dictate the first half, although a half time rocket often improves things. Why do we sit back at kickoff in Away games? SR says that is not the tactic so why do players do it? And we need a goalscorer. 

I know Saints fans are quite touchy about 'Well fans popping up in their thread offering opinions on Robinson (despite him generally being thought of as one of our best managers in recent times) but nevertheless - and with no snark intended - this was actually one of Robinson's blind spots when he was with us.

In his 3 full seasons at the club the top goalscorer in his first season was a player he inherited who left midway through the season (Moult (14)), his 2nd and 3rd seasons his top goalscorers were midfielders (Turnbull (15) and Donnelly (11)).

We were discussing KVV in our thread earlier in the season and how he compared with our other strikers over the years.

In comparison here's every forward Robinson signed during his time at the club - it's worth pointing out that both Watt and Cole only really started scoring regularly under Alexander:

• Alex Fisher (0 in 19) 
• George Newell (0 in 10)
• Curtis Main (14 in 58)
• Nadir Ciftci (3 in 15)
• Danny Johnson (8 in 28)
• Conor Sammon (3 in 21)
• Ross McCormack (0 in 4)
• Chris Long (17 in 66)
• Christy Manzinga (1 in 7)
• Ross MacIver (1 in 9)
• Tony Watt (19 in 70)
• Devante Cole (16 in 52)
• Jordan White (0 in 20).

Edited March 19 by capt_oats

[Buttocks Brown]

Have said it before on here but the merits of finishing top 6 have always passed me by.

I guess that, when you've no chance of winning the league and a very, very slim chance of winning a trophy then it gives the club staff a target. Really though if you don't make Europe (top 5 probably) then the only difference between finishing 6th and 7th is the small amount of prize money. It's also a bit shite to have had a good season but to go into the last 5 games on a downer because of something constructed by the league which is actually fairly meaningless.

In practice.... for the fans? Finish 6th to "enjoy" another visit from Rangers and a potential title party at Parkhead? Alternatively, from the safety of 7th enjoy being part of the spectacle of the basement battle. Goodie and United relegated in Paisley perhaps?

If we're still in the hunt for Europe at the split then fair enough, let's go for it. If we're looking at a situation though where, after 33 games, we make the top 6 but 5th looks unattainable then..... meh. I'd take puffing on cigars watching someone else's dogfight.

[FTOF]

Just now, capt_oats said:

I know Saints fans are quite touchy about 'Well fans popping up in their thread offering opinions on Robinson (despite him generally being thought of as one of our best managers in recent times) but nevertheless - and with no snark intended - this was actually one of Robinson's blind spots when he was with us.

In his 3 full seasons at the club the top goalscorer in his first season was a player he inherited who left midway through the season (Moult (14)), his 2nd and 3rd seasons his top goalscorers were midfielders (Turnbull (15) and Donnelly (11)).

We were discussing KVV in our thread earlier in the season and how he compared with our other strikers over the years.

In comparison here's every forward Robinson signed during his time at the club - it's worth pointing out that both Watt and Cole only started scoring regularly under Alexander:

• Alex Fisher (0 in 19) 
• George Newell (0 in 10)
• Curtis Main (14 in 58)
• Nadir Ciftci (3 in 15)
• Danny Johnson (8 in 28)
• Conor Sammon (3 in 21)
• Ross McCormack (0 in 4)
• Chris Long (17 in 66)
• Christy Manzinga (1 in 7)
• Ross MacIver (1 in 9)
• Tony Watt (19 in 70)
• Devante Cole (16 in 52)
• Jordan White (0 in 20).

It's not a blind spot.

Our current striker position is out with Robinson's control.

We had to offload Brophy due to our financial situation, only for Ayunga to do in his cruciate ligament a few days later. Neither are prolific, but they'd certainly have given us a better chance of scoring goals than we currently do.

I'm not touchy about you posting on our thread, I actually find Well fan's need to post about all things St.Mirren quite amusing.

 

 

[houston_bud]

1 hour ago, capt_oats said:

I know Saints fans are quite touchy about 'Well fans popping up in their thread offering opinions on Robinson (despite him generally being thought of as one of our best managers in recent times) but nevertheless - and with no snark intended - this was actually one of Robinson's blind spots when he was with us.

In his 3 full seasons at the club the top goalscorer in his first season was a player he inherited who left midway through the season (Moult (14)), his 2nd and 3rd seasons his top goalscorers were midfielders (Turnbull (15) and Donnelly (11)).

We were discussing KVV in our thread earlier in the season and how he compared with our other strikers over the years.

In comparison here's every forward Robinson signed during his time at the club - it's worth pointing out that both Watt and Cole only really started scoring regularly under Alexander:

• Alex Fisher (0 in 19) 
• George Newell (0 in 10)
• Curtis Main (14 in 58)
• Nadir Ciftci (3 in 15)
• Danny Johnson (8 in 28)
• Conor Sammon (3 in 21)
• Ross McCormack (0 in 4)
• Chris Long (17 in 66)
• Christy Manzinga (1 in 7)
• Ross MacIver (1 in 9)
• Tony Watt (19 in 70)
• Devante Cole (16 in 52)
• Jordan White (0 in 20).

To be fair, I think the managers and clubs at our level that can find regular goalscorers are the minority.

In my years 30 years watching St Mirren, I could count on one hand the amount of real goalscorers we've had. The likes of Van Veen, scoring a decent number in a bottom six/mid table team, are the exception.

[pozbaird]

2 hours ago, Buttocks Brown said:

Have said it before on here but the merits of finishing top 6 have always passed me by.

Finish top 6 and you cannot be relegated. Gives the club the ability to negotiate contracts and plan for life as a top flight club with certainty. Would also give us a head start on those down and dirty in the bottom six in identifying targets to sign for next season. Should also see clubs with big travelling supports come to our place for whatever post-split games we get at home, which benefits us in monetary terms, and selling hospitality etc. From the players perspective, I guess they’d rather test themselves against the uglies, Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen, with zero pressure. Could get pumped by having a go at them, and not finish any lower than sixth anyway. Has to be better than maybe being dragged into a fight at the bottom, or at best, see end-of-season drudgery against a Ross County side with twenty fans bothering to turn up.

[btb]

2 hours ago, Buttocks Brown said:

Have said it before on here but the merits of finishing top 6 have always passed me by.

I guess that, when you've no chance of winning the league and a very, very slim chance of winning a trophy then it gives the club staff a target. Really though if you don't make Europe (top 5 probably) then the only difference between finishing 6th and 7th is the small amount of prize money. It's also a bit shite to have had a good season but to go into the last 5 games on a downer because of something constructed by the league which is actually fairly meaningless.

In practice.... for the fans? Finish 6th to "enjoy" another visit from Rangers and a potential title party at Parkhead? Alternatively, from the safety of 7th enjoy being part of the spectacle of the basement battle. Goodie and United relegated in Paisley perhaps?

If we're still in the hunt for Europe at the split then fair enough, let's go for it. If we're looking at a situation though where, after 33 games, we make the top 6 but 5th looks unattainable then..... meh. I'd take puffing on cigars watching someone else's dogfight.

Mainly financial - £200k between 6^th & 7^th plus bigger crowds post split. It'd also get a monkey of our backs from (mainly) Well/Fakes fans. 

[NorthBank]

2 hours ago, Buttocks Brown said:

Have said it before on here but the merits of finishing top 6 have always passed me by.

I guess that, when you've no chance of winning the league and a very, very slim chance of winning a trophy then it gives the club staff a target. Really though if you don't make Europe (top 5 probably) then the only difference between finishing 6th and 7th is the small amount of prize money. It's also a bit shite to have had a good season but to go into the last 5 games on a downer because of something constructed by the league which is actually fairly meaningless.

In practice.... for the fans? Finish 6th to "enjoy" another visit from Rangers and a potential title party at Parkhead? Alternatively, from the safety of 7th enjoy being part of the spectacle of the basement battle. Goodie and United relegated in Paisley perhaps?

If we're still in the hunt for Europe at the split then fair enough, let's go for it. If we're looking at a situation though where, after 33 games, we make the top 6 but 5th looks unattainable then..... meh. I'd take puffing on cigars watching someone else's dogfight.

Teams that get into the Europa Conference League get £3.3 million. That's worth aiming for.

[Hendo]

24 minutes ago, btb said:

Mainly financial - £200k between 6^th & 7^th plus bigger crowds post split. It'd also get a monkey of our backs from (mainly) Well/Fakes fans. 

It might not be bigger crowds - Killie or United would sell their ends out if coming to us in the midst of a relegation battle.

[Hendo]

1 minute ago, NorthBank said:

Teams that get into the Europa Conference League get £3.3 million. That's worth aiming for.

True, top 6 is good because it keeps up a chance of top 5, but finishing 6th, especially if we end the season on a downer having lost to the teams above, isn't something to shout about.

[Buttocks Brown]

36 minutes ago, btb said:

Mainly financial - £200k between 6^th & 7^th plus bigger crowds post split. It'd also get a monkey of our backs from (mainly) Well/Fakes fans. 

£200K is definitely not to be sniffed at. One-upmanship against faceless pseudonyms on fan forums... who cares.

Totally selfish, but I'm just after a bit of entertainment on Saturdays through April and May. If we're off the European places (and we won't be going down) then I'd look forward to games against the likes of United and Killie with both in full squeaky bum mode. Rangers and Hearts visiting in nothing games....not so much.

 

[Bobby_F]

3 hours ago, Buttocks Brown said:

If we're still in the hunt for Europe at the split then fair enough, let's go for it. If we're looking at a situation though where, after 33 games, we make the top 6 but 5th looks unattainable then..... meh. I'd take puffing on cigars watching someone else's dogfight.

Whoever is in 6th at the split will absolutely have a shot at 4th or 5th such is the tightness between 4th and 7th.  

Currently 3 points between 4 teams and I think it’ll continue to be that close.